“I know you’ve been more than a help to us so far. A life saver, really, but I can’t take care of things for a little while. If you could just stay at the Circle A and work until I’m able to get back to it, I’d make it worth your while. You’ve got to eat, sleep and work somewhere,” he added.
Jake Reiner took a deep breath.
“Dad, Jake probably already had plans.”
Her father turned his head to look at her. “Honey, I worry about you and I know I should be home taking care of things. Jake just left a job and he said he’s free. We need him sort of on the desperate side.” He looked at Jake. “We usually have four or five men working for us, but for one reason or another, we don’t have any now. I promise to make working for us worthwhile for you,” he repeated.
She looked into Jake’s eyes and knew he didn’t want to stay. Why didn’t he just say so and go!
“Dad—”
He waved his hand. “Let the man get a word in, Maggie. I’ll only be laid up for a short time and if it gets too long for you, Jake,” he said, turning his attention back to Jake, “we’ll find a replacement for you. In the meantime, I could sure use your help.”
Jake was still gazing into Maggie’s eyes. Looking into his dark, inscrutable gaze, she held her breath.
“Yes, sir,” he said quietly.
She closed her eyes and rubbed her temple. What had her father done? She was sure he wasn’t thinking clearly. They would need help, but they could find someone who lived in the area and had a house or room they could go back to every night. What was she going to do with Jake Reiner?
“Thanks, Jake,” Ben said, closing his eyes. “I can’t tell you how relieved that makes me feel. Now I can just worry about rebuilding.”
“Dad, just think about getting well,” Maggie said. “I’m staying tonight at the hospital so—”
“No, you’re not. I want a quiet night’s sleep,” her father interjected, “and Imogene is the night nurse. You know she’ll take good care of me,” he added and chuckled.
Maggie knew she wouldn’t be needed at the hospital. For the past two years, Imogene Randle had wanted to marry her father. Now, here at the hospital, Imogene had him in her clutches, and Maggie was sure Imogene would be in his room constantly. The past twenty minutes were the longest she had been out of his room since Maggie arrived. Maggie looked at Jake again and met another curious stare. She was going to have to take him home with her and let him stay there.
Her stomach fluttered at the thought. He disturbed her and he was a stranger even though her father knew him from rodeos. Just because the guy won big belt buckles and had lots of money didn’t make him safe to take into their house.
She rubbed her earlobe nervously and tried to think what she could do to change the situation. She looked at her father who was breathing deeply with his eyes closed.
“He’s asleep. And he’s right about Imogene. She’ll check on him constantly so I guess we might as well go.” Dazed by the swift turn of events, Maggie picked up her purse. “Are you ready to go home?”
The words had a strange ring to them. She knew this wasn’t an ordinary man and taking him home with her was not like taking the next half dozen strangers home.
Was she really scared of him or was she scared of her own reactions to him? she wondered.
He nodded and turned to hold the door for her. Neither of them said a word as they rode down in the elevator and headed for her pickup. All the time in her mind, she kept running through the names of every hired hand they’d had or anyone else she could think of she could hire in place of Jake. Surely there was someone, and Jake had looked as if he would jump at the chance to go. Why had he let her father talk him into this?
“I know you don’t want to do this. I’m sure I can find someone else,” she said as she drove out of the hospital lot.
He twisted in the seat to look at her. They were still in the glow of town lights and she could see him well enough to see the flare of amusement in his eyes.
“You don’t want me to work for you, do you?”
“I don’t know you.”
“Look, if you don’t want me there, I’ll go.”
She shot him a look and then thought about her father. “Let me see if I can hire someone else. You really don’t want to work for us, do you?”
“No. It’s nothing personal. I had planned to take off work for a short time and travel, but your father needs help. More than you can give him if you’re doing the cooking and taking care of your little girl. You see who you can hire. In the meantime, don’t worry. I’m a safe, trustworthy person. If you’d like, you can call Jeb Stuart and get references. When we get to your house, I’ll give you his number.”
“Thanks. It just makes me nervous for you to move into our house when I don’t know you,” she admitted.
He shrugged. “It’s summer. I saw a hammock in your yard—I can sleep there.”
“You don’t mind?”
“Nope.”
She nodded and was silent and wondered what was running through his mind and if he thought that she was the silliest female he had ever encountered. He hadn’t wanted to stay and work for them, yet why was he so reluctant to stay? She would call Jeb Stuart when they got home.
“When will your daughter come home?”
“I’ll pick her up in the morning. I have two married sisters who live in town. They have kids, too, and all the little cousins are close.”
“Nice big family,” he said glancing around. “Are there any restaurants between here and your house? It just dawned on me and my stomach that I haven’t eaten since last night.”
“Sorry. There isn’t anything unless we turn around and go back to town, but I have leftovers at home.”
“That’s good enough. I’d like to take a shower.”
“Of course. I’m sorry about your staying in our house—”
“Forget it,” he said.
They lapsed into silence again with the rumble of the pickup’s engine the only noise. Jake stared into the dark night and felt caught in a trap. The father wanted him to stay, the daughter wanted him to go. And he wanted to go, dammit! Yet when he looked into the old man’s eyes and then into hers, out had come an acceptance. He was getting himself tied down when he didn’t want to be, in a place he didn’t want to be. He was drawn to Maggie Langford and that alone made him uneasy. Most women he met were like the nurse in the emergency—flirtatious, fun and someone he could take or leave. And he always left them.
A broken leg took weeks to mend. Jake had had enough breaks to know. He didn’t want to work at Maggie’s ranch for weeks. And she sure as hell didn’t want him to. If looks could send him flying to Mars, he would be on his way now.
He didn’t mind sleeping out in the yard in the hammock. It would probably be cool and comfortable, but it was ridiculous. If he intended to harm her, staying in the yard wouldn’t stop him. He was going home to eat with her and shower in her house. He glanced at her again. She was definitely easy to look at. He liked her better in shorts and a T-shirt.
They drove up to the darkened house, and she cut the engine. When he started to get out, he saw her staring at their burned field and the ruins of the garage and the barn.
“Sorry,” he said, understanding too well her sense of loss and sobered by the sight of the blackened land that brought back ugly memories for him.
“It happened so fast and took so much. It’ll take a long time to get things back to the way they were. Dad was after a trunk of old things that